True Torture
by too.cool.to.have.a.penname
Summary: Dean Winchester teaches the demons of Hell the true meaning of torture. Warnings: Torture, mention of self-harm, mention of insanity, improper use of music and singing.


True Torture

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_Dean Winchester teaches the demons of Hell the true meaning of torture._

_Warnings: Torture, mention of self-harm, mention of insanity, improper use of music and singing._

_Disclaimer: Supernatural doesn't belong to me._

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Time had no meaning in Hell. That was the first thing Dean Winchester had learned after he'd been dragged down to Hell by the Hellhounds. A second could take an eternity and hours could pass by in no time at all. Of course, it could be that he was just confused, because there were times when hours had dragged on for either eternity or a few seconds when he'd been young. Dean blinked sluggishly at the thought. Where did that come from?

Before Dean could trace the thought back to its origin, he was interrupted by a sudden pain in his leg. He screamed as claws dug into his flesh, grasped his bone and _pulled_. Jeering demons stood at a distance, pointing, laughing at him. The demon doing this to him was one of the several demons Alastair had left him with when he'd left for "business".

The demon backed away and looked at Dean contemplatively. Dean breathed harshly and attempted to pull off a glare. Judging by the look on the demon, he failed.

Another demon stepped forward, this one gripping his hair tightly and tilting his head backwards. She, Dean knew, specialized in a different form of torture. He'd met her before and he knew she was a big part of the reason for his frail mental state (_'Frail mental state,'_ Dean mocked himself. _'You're insane and you know it!'_).

She whispered to him, all while the first demon continued to tear at him. She finished her whisperings with a lingering "You're all alone, Dean. And you know you're going insane. What will happen, you think, if dear baby brother sees you?"

Dean froze instinctively at her mention of… Someone he knew he should remember, but he hung his head when all he earned was another wave of taunts and laughs. Through the pain that clouded his mind he tried to gather his thoughts, at least enough for a half-decent come-back, but he came up with nothing. Instead, a half-a-memory came to him, of when he and Someone had been small, travelling with Someone Else (an older man) and nothing to be concerned about except for fitting in at school and whether or not this Someone Else was coming home that night or not. He remembered Someone's words, spoken in all the affectionate irritation an eight year old is able to muster. _"That's got to be the most effective torture in the world."_

A tune found its way into Dean's mind, and before he really knew what had happened, he started murmuring along to it. His voice was strained due to all the screaming he'd been doing, but once he'd started he didn't really know how to stop.

"Nine-hundred-ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, nine-hundred-ninety-nine bottles of beer," he sang slowly, "take one down, pass it around-"

Further he didn't get before one of the demons screamed. Loudly. Everyone in the vicinity, demons and damned souls alike, stopped what they were doing to stare at the demon. The demon didn't stay any longer though; it quite literally turned tail and fled the area. A small smile somehow worked its way onto Dean's face as he, quite amazed with what had just happened, finished the verse. "Nine-hundred-ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall."

Dean felt the small amount of effort it took to sing was worth it and the strain on his voice was actually getting smaller, so he took a deep breath (something he wasn't sure was fully necessary, but it was habit) and started the second verse, his voice just a little bit stronger and more secure.

"Nine-hundred-ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall, nine-hundred-ninety-eight bottles of beer…"

It was a way to pass the time… and actually keep track of it.

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Alastair wasn't sure what he expected when he returned. Oh, wait, he did. He'd expected everything to stay the way it was when he left. Of course, considering the incompetency of today's demons, he probably should've at least expected some kind of trouble.

But not anything of the kind he returned to.

A demon, one he'd personally trained, was sitting on the ground, curled up in a ball and muttering "Bottles of beer, bottles of beer" over and over. Alastair didn't ask.

He walked further, this time encountering a whole group of demons. All of them were huddled into one another and he made a mental note to get them all up on the rack. They were _demons_ for Hell's sake. They shouldn't be seeking what appeared to be _comfort_ in one another. When he approached them one of the demons looked up at him and excitedly grabbed him. "You're back!" the demon… smiled. That settled it; this one wasn't coming down from the rack for a long time. "You can make it stop, right? Right? Of course you can! Thank you so much!"

Alastair continued walking in disbelief even as the demon continued to cling to him, babbling like mad.

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"…one down, pass it around, six-hundred-thirty-one bottles of beer on the wall…"

Alastair stared. The bizarre scene that unfolded before him was having trouble being processed right. The first coherent thought he managed was _'I'm impressed,'_ because really, he was.

After thirty-odd years (give or take) Dean Winchester had clearly snapped. But why'd he started to _sing_…?

"…thirty-one bottles of beer, take one down, pass it…"

Alastair took his time to survey the area. A few demons were still there, tormenting the damned souls in the vicinity. One demon seemed to be singing along with Dean, but in a much more silent tone. There were not enough demons for all the souls, but Dean seemed to handle it rather well. In fact, those who were not tortured by any demon seemed to be fairing the worst. One of them, whom had clearly been suspended by fewer than normal chains, had somehow ripped the chains from her body and strangled herself with one of them. Alastair gave her mental points for trying. She hadn't died, she was already dead, of course, but she had slipped into unconsciousness. Blood was dripping from the woman's neck where the chain had dug in and Alastair absently wondered whether that counted as _Dean_ spilling the woman's blood or not.

"…six-hundred-twenty-nine bottles of beer on the wall…"

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"…one more bottle of beer on the wall, one single bottle of beer, take it down, pass it around, no more bottles of beer on the wall."

Dean finished his song and if he heard the relived sigh that ran through the area he didn't show it. Alastair stood to the side, quietly admiring the human. Of course, had it been him, he would've done something rather horrible to the ones who'd dared to make a noise. Dean obviously still had quite a lot to learn.

"There's no more bottles of beer on the wall, no more bottles of beer, go to a store, buy all their beer, put all the bottles of beer on the wall…"

Ah, spoke too soon.

If Dean heard the terrified scream somewhere on his left, he didn't show it.

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After the twelfth, or maybe thirteenth, repetition of the song, Dean had felt a slight returning of his mental faculties. That slight part that had returned quickly convinced him that the constant repetition of a single song really wasn't good, for him or anyone else. Dean solemnly started a new song.

"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves…"

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Over the course of the years, Dean switched it up a bit. The Song That Never Ends made more than one appearance, some guy from Finland taught Dean a song in Finnish and Bottles of Beer on the Wall continued to be sung often enough, along with The Song That Gets On Everybody's Nerves.

Many other songs were sung as well. Some _real _music was sung once or twice. Highway to Hell became a favorite of many, the same way that Stairway to Heaven was banned even before Dean had gotten half-way through the first chorus. Dean also sang songs like Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (which was apparently rather horrible, in demon's ears), Wish upon a Star (which had also gotten banned) and, on one never to be mentioned again occasion, the Spongebob Squarepants opening theme.

… What? He was insane.

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It was safe to say that the angel Castiel didn't really expect the scene he was greeted with when he came to raise Dean Winchester from Perdition.

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_So, three guesses which song I've got stuck in my head ;)_

_What scene _did _Castiel arrive to? That's up to you, I'm afraid._


End file.
